The  Sewerage  of  Geneva,  N.  Y 


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J,  JAMES  R.  CROES, 
Civil  Engineer, 

No.  63  Bleecker  Street, 

New  York, 


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The  Sewerage  of  Geneva,  N.  Y. 


REPORTS 

TO  THE 

Board  of  T rustees  of  the  V illage 


GENEVA,  N.  Y. 

•  i  »  7 


THE  COMMITTEE  OF  CITIZENS 

AND 

J.  JAMES  R.  CROES, 

M.  Am.  Soc.  C.E. 


JANUARY  i st,  1884. 


New  York: 

The  Sanitary  Engineer  Press 
140  William  Street. 


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The  Sewerage  of  Geneva,  N.  Y. 


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To  the  Honorable  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Village  of  Geneva  : 

At  the  Tax  Meeting  held  May  15,  1883,  the  following  resolution, 
offered  by  A.  L.  Chew,  Esq.,  was  adopted  : 

*Whereas,  It  is  desirable  in  providing  sewerage  for  the  Village  of  Geneva,  that 
for  efficiency  and  economy  in  construction  it  be  done  in  conformity  to  intelligently 
devised  plans  and  specifications  ;  therefore, 

Resolved ,  That  it  be  referred  to  a  committee  of  five  citizens,  tax-payers  of  the 
village,  to  consist  of  F.  O.  Mason,  Hamilton  L.  Smith,  S.  H.  Parker,  Peter  Rich¬ 
ards  and  P.  N.  Nicholas,  to  devise  such  plans  and  specifications,  and  report  the 
same  for  approval  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  village  ;  and  such  committee  is 
empowered  to  employ  a  competent  sanitary  engineer  and  a  competent  aid  and 
draughtsman  for  the  purpose  ;  and  that  they  be  also  authorized,  in  case  want  of  power 
in  the  Village  Charter  be  found  to  exist,  to  apply  to  the  next  Legislature  for  such 
further  grant  of  power  as  will  enable  the  Trustees,  or  any  body  appointed  therefor,  to 
construct  from  time  to  time  such  sewers  as  may  be  deemed  important  to  the  public 
health  and  convenience,  and  to  regulate  the  connection  of  private  drains  therewith  ; 
the  expense  of  carrying  this  resolution  into  effect  not  to  exceed  five  hundred  dollars. 


In  accordance  with  the  foregoing  resolution,  the  undersigned, 
members  of  said  Committee,  respectfully  report  : 

That  they  employed  the  services  of  Mr.  J.  J.  R.  Croes,  Civil 
Engineer,  of  the  city  of  New  York,  in  whose  skill  and  knowledge  of 
matters  relating  to  sewerage  they  had  reason  to  feel  confidence,  and 
whose  report  to  the  Trustees  is  herewith  presented. 

The  Committee  also  employed  Mr.  Geo.  Root,  of  Geneva,  to 
take  the  elevations  required  by  Mr.  Croes,  who  has  expressed  his 
approval  of  this  portion  of  the  work. 

The  map  used  in  this  survey  was  an  old  village  map,  the  accu¬ 
racy  of  which  Mr.  Root  does  not  vouch  for,  but  the  data  furnished  are 
doubtless  sufficiently  accurate  to  justify  the  estimates  in  the  report. 

In  submitting  the  report  of  Mr.  Croes  and  the  accompanying 
map,  the  Committee  feel  that  their  confidence  has  not  been  mis¬ 
placed  ;  and  that  whatever  action  may  be  taken  in  the  matter  the 
village  will  be  in  possession  of  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  public 
records. 


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4 


THE  SEWERAGE  OF  GENEVA,  N.  Y. 


They  respectfully  suggest  that  the  report  be  carefully  preserved, 
and  that  the  map  be  framed  and  hung  in  some  safe  place  where  it 
will  be  accessible  for  reference. 

Mr.  Croes’  estimates  of  cost  for  the  sewerage  of  the  entire  vil¬ 
lage  are  very  large,  and  the  Committee  fully  realize  that  it  would  be 
entirely  impracticable  to  entertain  any  such  outlay  at  present.  Indeed, 
the  report  does  not  contemplate  such  an  expenditure  at  any  one  time, 
and  suggests  that  of  the  ten  districts  for  which  specifications  are  given, 
three  only  will  probably  require  immediate  attention. 

The  first  includes  the  part  of  the  village  from  Main  Street  to 
the  Lake  between  Hamilton  and  Lewis  Streets. 


The  second,  between  Main  and  Pulteney  from  Hamilton  to  Lewis 
Streets. 

The  third,  between  Hamilton  Street  and  Mile  Point. 

The  estimates  for  these  three  districts  aggregate  about  $52,000 
for  37,000  feet  of  sewers.  This,  even,  is  a  very  large  sum,  in  view  of 
the  limited  resources  and  present  liabilities  of  the  village,  though  as  an 
important  proportion  of  the  cost  would  doubtless  be  assessed  upon 
the  frontage  along  which  the  sewers  are  laid,  the  genet'al  tax  would 
not  be  so  largely  increased  as  might  at  first  appear. 

Of  these  districts  the  first  and  second  are  already  partially, 
although,  as  the  Committee  believe,  very  imperfectly,  provided  for  by 
the  Cemetery  Creek  sewer,  and  though  this  by  no  means  conforms  to 
the  plan  recommended  in  this  report,  as  it  has  been  so  recently  con¬ 
structed  at  large  cost,  it  will  reasonably  be  expected  that  ample  time 
should  be  given  to  test  its  efficiency. 

Mr.  Croes’  opinion,  however,  that  natural  water-courses  should 
in  no  case  be  used  for  the  conveyance  of  sewage,  seems  to  be  sup¬ 
ported  by  the  best  sanitary  authorities.  To  cover  the  channel  so  used 
is  simply  to  hide  the  evil,  not  to  remedy  it. 

The  third  district  named  in  the  report,  though  last  in  order,  is 
perhaps  at  this  time  the  first  in  importance.  No  one  familiar  with 
this  section  would  question  (apart  from  any  considerations  of  comfort 
or  convenience)  that  it  cannot  be  left  in  its  present  condition  without 
peril  to  the  public  health.  Indeed,  the  Board  of  Health  have,  within  a 
few  months,  notified  all  residents  draining  to  the  open  ditch  between 
Pulteney  and  Main  Streets,  to  cut  off  their  connections,  “  as  its  use 
for  sewerage  purposes  has  been  declared  a  nuisance  detrimental  to  the 
public  health  ” — an  order  which  cannot  properly  be  enforced  in  the 
absence  of  any  other  provision  for  this  drainage. 

The  report  suggests  three  methods  for  the  sewerage  of  this 


THE  SEWERAGE  OF  GENEVA,  N.  Y. 


5 


district,  and  estimates  the  cost,  including  the  preparation  of  the  land 
for  irrigation,  at  about  $17,000. 

But  as  the  east  side  of  Main  Street  has  the  advantage  of  drain¬ 
ing  to  the  Lake,  it  could  perhaps  be  safely  left  for  the  present,  and  a 
sewer  simply  laid  through  Pulteney  Street  to  the  Mile  Point  ravine, 
taking  the  entire  drainage  of  the  village  flowing  south. 

Mr.  Croes  approves  of  this  suggestion,  and  submits  a  supplemen¬ 
tary  plan  in  conformity  therewith.  His  estimate  for  the  work,  exclu¬ 
sive  of  irrigation,  is  $5,760  ;  and  the  Committee  feel  authorized  to 
state  that  his  estimates  throughout  are  intended  to  be  over  rather  than 
under  the  probable  cost. 

As  a  large  amount  of  bonds  issued  for  cemetery  and  railroad  pur¬ 
poses  will  be  paid  off  within  the  next  two  years,  it  may  reasonably  be 
hoped  that  this  section  of  this  district  at  least  could  be  prudently 
undertaken. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  Committee  there  is  an  imperative  neces¬ 
sity  for  this  sewer,  and  its  construction  cannot  safely  be  delayed. 

In  regard  to  the  other  two  districts  (Nos.  1  and  2)  named  in  the 
report  as  requiring  immediate  attention  :  aside  from  the  question  of 
relative  importance  and  the  partial  relief  afforded  by  the  Cemetery 
Creek  sewer,  they  probably  could  not  be  so  well  treated  separately, 
and  would  in  any  case  involve  a  much  larger  expenditure,  the  estimate 
for  No.  1  being  about  $19,000,  and  for  No.  2  $16,000. 

The  Committee,  however,  would  not  be  understood  as  underrating 
the  importance  of  these  districts  ;  they  would  prefer  that  the  entire 
plan  should  be  acted  upon  at  once  ;  but  inasmuch  as  that  is  not  prac¬ 
ticable,  they  would  make  this  beginning  in  the  third  district,  where 
immediate  relief  is  needed  and  would  be  attended  with  so  moderate 
an  outlay,  rather  than  wait  indefinitely  to  do  more  ;  and  they  would 
respectfully  submit  this  recommendation  to  the  impartial  consideration 
of  the  Trustees  and  tax-payers  of  the  village.  For  the  disposal  of  the 
sewage  of  district  No.  3,  the  report  recommends  sub-surface  irrigation 
at  Mile  Point,  for  which  the  land  would  seem  admirably  adapted. 
This  method  has  been  adopted  with  apparent  success  in  many 
European  cities  and  in  several  places  in  our  own  country,  and  appears 
to  be  steadily  growing  in  favor.  Certainly  the  advantage  of  protect¬ 
ing  the  Lake  to  this  extent  from  further  pollution  alone  entitles  the 
plan  to  favorable  consideration.  Mr.  Croes’  estimate  of  the  cost  of 
preparing  the  land  for  this  purpose  is  $3,000. 

And  in  this  connection  the  Committee  would  call  attention  to 
the  suggestion  in  the  report,  that  for  the  sewage  flowing  north,  if  it 
must  be  discharged  into  the  Lake,  only  one  outlet  should  be 


6 


THE  SEWERAGE  OF  GENEVA,  N.  Y. 


provided,  and  that  this  should  be  located  “  where  the  slight  current  of 
the  Lake  will  carry  it  away  from  the  town  and  not  allow  it  to  remain 
stagnant  within  the  breakwater.” 

The  Committee  entirely  coincide  with  the  opinion  expressed  in 
the  report,  that  whatever  is  undertaken,  whether  in  whole  or  in  part, 
to  carry  out  this  or  any  other  plan  for  the  sewerage  of  the  village, 
should  be  under  the  direction  of  a  competent  engineer  ;  and  the  esti¬ 
mates  given  in  the  report  are  intended  to  cover  the  expense  of  such 
supervision. 

They  would  also  urge  the  importance  of  interdicting  private 
connections  with  the  mains,  except  by  official  permit  and  prescribed 
methods. 

The  report  provides  for  the  use  of  automatic  flush  tanks  for 
cleansing  the  sewers,  and  Mr.  Croes  estimates  that  5,000  gallons  a 
day,  were  the  entire  system  in  operation,  would  be  ample  for  this 
purpose.  Very  little  water  seems  requisite  under  this  “  separate  sys¬ 
tem  and  in  the  town  of  Nahant,  Massachusetts,  where  it  has  been 
adopted,  and  which  has  no  public  water  supply,  the  pipes  are  flushed 
through  the  manholes  with  salt  water  supplied  by  the  town  water  cart ; 
and  Mr.  Bowditch,  sanitary  engineer,  reports  that  this  primitive  method 
has  been  thus  far  so  successful  and  has  so  seldom  to  be  applied  that 
it  is  quite  possible  the  special  flush  tanks  may  be  omitted  entirely. 

The  ordinary  house  supply  is  thought  sufficient  for  private  drains, 
and  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  report  deprecates  even  the  discharge  of 
rain  water  from  the  roof  into  the  sewers,  except  under  rigid  restrictions. 

But  whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  public  water  supply  with 
reference  to  sewerage,  the  two  systems  are  so  intimately  related 
that  the  Committee  would  submit  whether  they  should  not  be  under 
one  ownership  and  control.  It  would  seem  that  the  White  Springs 
should  be  a  source  of  profit  rather  than  a  burden  to  the  village,  and 
that  a  negotiation  from  year  to  year  with  a  private  company  for  the 
amount  of  water  required  for  public  uses  should  not  be  necessary. 

The  resolution  referred  to  authorizes  the  Committee  to  apply  to 
the  Legislature  for  such  grant  of  power  as  may  be  necessary  to  give 
effect  to  their  recommendations  if  adopted.  There  has  been  no  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  action  in  this  matter,  and  it  is  still  held  under  consideration. 

Respectfully  submitted, 


(Signed,) 

F.  0.  Mason, 

.  .  ->  *  \  V  \  ,  "'•v"  .  -  -  ^  -  •  \*  •  •  “-V. 

H.  L.  Smith, 

a.  ■  A 

P.  Richards, 

„ ’  ’  •;  \  )  -j  ,  v  '  ... 

Geneva,  January  1,  1884. 

S.  H.  Parker, 

P.  N.  Nicholas. 

THE  SEWERAGE  OF  GENEVA,  N.  Y. 


7 


REPORT  ON  A  PLAN  OF  SEWERAGE 


For  the  Village  of  Geneva,  N.  Y. 


To  the  Honorable  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Village  of  Geneva,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen  : 

I  have  the  honor  to  submit  a  plan  for  the  sewerage 
and  sewage  disposal  of  the  village  of  Geneva,  prepared  at  your  request. 

In  considering  a  plan  for  sewerage,  it  is  first  necessary  to  deter¬ 
mine  what  shall  be  allowed  to  enter  the  sewers. 

In  some  localities  and  under  some  circumstances  it  is  necessary 
that  all  the  water  which  falls  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  should 
be  carried  off.  In  others,  the  conformation  of  the  ground  is  such 
that  no  provision  is  necessary  for  removing  rain  water,  and  it  is  only 
requisite  to  carry  off  the  water  fouled  by  domestic  uses,  in  addition 
to  the  animal  excreta. 

A  perfect  system  of  sewerage  is  one  in  which  only  these  foul 
domestic  wastes  are  admitted  to  the  channels  provided  for  their  con¬ 
veyance,  and  they  are  removed,  before  they  have  begun  to  decompose, 
to  some  point  far  enough  distant  from  human  habitations  to  preclude 
the  possibility  of  their  giving  offence  or  producing  disease. 

In  practice,  it  is  found  necessary  to  provide  for  the  introduction 
of  additional  water  into  sewers  designed  only  to  remove  house 
waters,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  prompt  removal  of  the  foul  matter 
and  to  cleanse  the  sewer  channels.  It  is  also  found  that  even  where 

•  r-  '  ;  ■  '  '  ^ . •  4 

an  entire  exclusion  of  rain  water  from  the  sewers  is  aimed  at,  if  no 
separate  provision  is  made  for  carrying  off  rain  water  from  the  roofs 
of  houses,  some  of  it  will  be  carried  into  the  sewers  in  spite  of  the 
most  stringent  prohibitory  ordinances. 

The  sewers  must,  therefore,  in  any  case,  be  made  somewhat 
larger  than  is  necessary  for  the  simple  removal  of  house  wastes,  and 
the  amount  of  excess  over  this  minimum  size  is  to  be  determined 
in  every  locality  by  the  conditions  existing  there. 

In  a  street,  the  dwellings  on  which  are  detached  and  are  sur¬ 
rounded  by  open  grounds,  the  sewer  need  not  be  proportioned  to 
carry  off  more  than  the  house  discharge  at  the  time  of  greatest 
flow,  when  running  half  full.  ‘If  a  householder  desires  to  carry  off 


8 


THE  SEWERAGE  OF  GENEVA,  N.  Y. 


the  rain  water  from  the  roof  in  the  sewer,  he  should  be  required  to 
provide  a  cistern  of  sufficient  capacity  to  hold  three  inches  of  rainfall 
on  his  roof,  furnished  either  with  an  automatic  flush  tank,  which  will 
discharge  the  water  collected  in  the  cistern,  in  periodical  flushes  into 
the  sewer,  or,  if  there  is  no  flush  tank,  the  outlet  from  the  tank  to  the 
sewer  should  be  so  small  that  it  will  take  two  days  to  empty  the  cistern. 

In  large,  closely  built  towns,  it  becomes  necessary  to  provide 
underground  channels  for  removing  the  rain  water  which  falls  on 
the  streets  and  houses  some  distance  from  the  natural  water-courses, 
and  in  such  cases,  storm  water  may  be  properly  admitted  to  the 
sewers,  but  in  general  and  as  a  matter  of  principle,  sewers  intended 
for  the  removal  of  fouled  waters  from  dwellings  should  be  restricted 
absolutely  to  conveying  them  alone,  as  quickly  as  possible,  to  a  point 
far  distant  from  all  residences. 

In  the  case  of  the  village  of  Geneva,  which  was  settled  nearly 
one  hundred  years  ago,  I  do  not  understand  that  any  inconvenience 
has  been  experienced  from  permitting  rain  water  to  flow  in  the 
streets  and  into  the  natural  water-courses  which  traverse  the  village 
and  empty  into  Seneca  Lake.  The  filthiness  in  and  the  stench  arising 
from  those  water-courses,  are  caused  by  their  having  been  used  to 
carry  off  foul  matters  which  never  should  be  permitted  to  enter  any 
natural  stream,  whether  covered  or  open. 

It  is  proper  that  these  water-courses  should  be  retained  for  carry¬ 
ing  off  the  natural  flow  of  the  territory  they  drain,  and  the  work  which 
has  been  done  on  the  straightening  and  arching  of  Cemetery  Creek 
and  the  stream  which  flows  from  North  Street  across  the  blocks  to 
Exchange  Street,  at  the  New  York  Central  Railroad,  are  steps  in  the 
right  direction  ;  but  every  kind  of  filth  and  domestic  waste  waters 
should  be  carefully  excluded  from  these  channels,  for  the  reason  that 
any  natural  water-course  should  be  kept  as  a  drain,  into  which  the 
water  from  the  ground  can  percolate  ;  while  a  sewer  must  be  made 
water-tight  to  keep  the  filth  from  leaking  out  into  the  surrounding  soil. 

Castle  Creek  is  another  natural  water-course  of  considerable 
importance,  which  flows  through  the  centre  of  the  blocks  and  ought 
to  be  kept  free  from  all  pollution  by  excremental  matter  and  house 
wastes.  Between  Castle  Street,  where  the  creek  crosses  it,  and  Main 
Street,  this  stream  occupies  the  only  route  by  which  the  drainage  of 
a  large  district  west  of  the  ridge  which  runs  parallel  to  the  Lake  can 
be  brought  to  the  Lake  without  deep  cutting.  It  would  .be  advisable 
to  acquire  a  strip  of  land  along  its  course  and  wall  up  the  channel 
and  lay,  either  under  or  along  side  of  it,  a  pipe  sewer  to  carry  off 
the  sewage  from  the  district  along  the  western  part  of  Castle  Street. 


THE  SEWERAGE  OF  GENEVA,  N.  Y. 


9 


East  of  Main  Street  the  sewer  can  very  well  be  placed  in  the 
street,  but  the  stream  channel  should  still  be  continued  in  or  near 
its  natural  course  to  the  Lake. 

The  small  stream  which  passes  through  the  blocks  north  of 
Castle  Creek,  may  also  be  preserved  as  a  water-course. 

.  At  the  southerly  end  of  the  village,  the  natural  drainage  is  to  the 
south,  by  two  streams  which  flow  through  ravines  separated  for 
some  distance  by  high  ridges  parallel  to  the  Lake  shore,  but  uniting 
at  Mile  Point  and  emptying  into  the  Lake  there.  The  most  westerly 
of  these  streams  passes  through  a  region  where  the  population  is 
scanty  at  present,  and  afterward  through  the  Cemetery. 

I  would  advise  that  a  strip  of  land  along  its  course  be  acquired  by 
the  village,  and  the  stream  straightened  where  necessary  and  kept  clean. 

If  the  population  should  grow  in  that  direction,  it  maybe  necessary, 
eventually,  to  arch  it  over,  but  this  will  probably  not  be  needed  for 
some  time.  It  would  be  well,  however,  to  acquire  the  land  soon,  and  as 
soon  as  it  becomes  needed  it  will  be  well  to  lay  a  sewer  along  the  course 
of  the  stream  to  Mile  Point,  independent  of  the  water-course  itself. 

It  will  be  seen  that  by  its  topography  the  village  is  divided  natur¬ 
ally  into  two  main  districts,  the  sewage  of  which  must  be  discharged 
in  different  directions. 

The  territory  north  of  Hamilton  Street  all  drains  to  the  north 
and  west,  and  has  two  or  three  natural  outlets. 

If  the  sewage  is  to  be  discharged  into  the  Lake  it  is  very  desirable 
that  only  one  outlet  should  be  provided  for  all  the  sewage  from 
north  of  Hamilton  Street,  and  that  the  outlet  should  be  where  the 
slight  current  of  the  Lake  will  carry  it  away  from  the  town  and  not 
allow  it  to  remain  stagnant  inside  of  the  breakwaters. 

It  is  practicable  to  carry  all  this  sewage  to  one  outlet  at  the 
mouth  of  Marsh  Creek. 

The  territory  lying  south  of  a  line  drawn  across  the  village  near 
Hamilton  Street  has  its  natural  outlet  at  Mile  Point  Creek,  at  the 
south  end  of  the  village. 

The  peculiar  topography  of  this  section  makes  the  arrangement 
of  its  sewers  a  difficult  problem  to  solve  satisfactorily. 

Main  Street,  on  which  a  majority  of  the  dwellings  front,  lies  on 
the  summit  of  a  narrow  ridge,  on  each  side  of  which  the  ground 
falls  off  rapidly,  so  that  the  basements  and  cellars  of  the  houses, 
which  are  set  back  from  the  street,  are  so  far  below  the  level  of  the 
street  that  a  sewer  in  Main  Street,  which  would  be  low  enough  to 
drain  them,  would  necessarily  be  put  very  deep,  probably  14  to  16 
feet  below  the  surface. 


IO 


THE  SEWERAGE  OF  GENEVA,  N.Y. 


On  the  east  side,  the  slope  to  the  Lake  is  steep,  the  bank  is  irreg¬ 
ular  in  its  contour,  and  for  the  most  part  thickly  wooded. 

At  its  base,  along  the  Lake  shore,  a  railroad  runs.  A  sewer 
taking  the  drainage  from  the  rear  of  the  houses,  would  have  to  be 
built  entirely  on  private  property  along  this  bank,  and,  from  a  hasty 
examination,  I  judge  that  it  would  either  run  over  very  irregular 
ground,  requiring  some  heavy  work  in  cuttings  and  embankments, 
or  else  follow  a  very  crooked  line.  In  any  case,  it  could  not  be  con¬ 
structed  without  the  consent  of  all  the  property  owners,  or  the  con¬ 
demnation  of  a  strip  of  land  by  the  village.  If  it  were  built  along 
the  line  of  the  railroad,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  the  right  of  way  would 
have  to  be  purchased  or  condemned,  and  the  house  drains  would  be 
long  and  laid  over  rough  ground. 

On  the  west  side  of  Main  Street  the  ground  slopes  westward  to 
the  ravine  between  Main  and  Pulteney  Streets,  and  if  there  were  no 
sewer  in  Main  Street,  it  would  be  necessary  to  acquire  a  strip  of  land 
and  lay  the  sewer  across  the  lots,  in  that  ravine  which  is  so  deep 
as  to  prevent  the  sewage  from  most  of  the  Main  Street  houses  from 
being  carried  through  to  the  Pulteney  Street  sewer. 

The  additional  length  of  house  drains  required  by  this  method 
of  drainage  would  go  far  to  compensate  for  the  greater  cost  of  putting 
the  sewer  in  Main  Street  at  the  necessary  depth. 

Any  estimates  made  without  exact  surveys  of  the  ground  must  be 
only  approximate,  but  they  can  be  made  with  sufficient  accuracy  to  give  a 
fair  comparison  of  the  cost  of  the  several  possible  methods,  as  follows:* 

First . — Estimated  cost  of  sewer  in  Main  Street,  laid  16  feet  be¬ 
low  the  surface,  with  a  house  connection  80  feet  long, 

every  200  feet  on  each  side .  $9*385 

Second . — Estimated  cost  of  sewer  along  railroad  for  the  houses 
on  the  east  side  of  Main  Street,  and  sewer  between  Main 
and  Pulteney  Streets  for  the  houses  on  the  west  side  of 
Main  Street,  from  Hamilton  to  Jay  Streets,  with  house  con¬ 
nections  complete,  the  sewers  being  5  feet  below  the  surface.  1  o,  1 45 
Third. — Estimated  cost  of  sewer  about  100  feet  east  of  Main 
Street,  through  private  property  on  the  hill  side,  the 
houses  on  the  west  side  of  Main  Street,  for  1,000  feet 
south  of  Hamilton  Street,  draining  to  the  sewer  in  Pul¬ 
teney  Street,  and  for  the  remainder  of  the  distance  drain¬ 
ing  to  a  sewer  in  the  ravine  between  Main  and  Pulteney 
Streets,  from  near  St.  Clair  Street  to  Jay  Street.  . . . ~  9,1 13 

*  The  estimates  of  the  cost  are  given  in  detail  in  the  report  filed  with  the 
Trustees. 


THE  SEWERAGE  OF  GENEVA,  N.  Y.  i ; 

As  these  three  plans  differ  so  little  in  cost,  and  the  second  and 
third  require  an  additional  expenditure  for  right  of  way,  I  have  laid 
down  on  thb  map  the  one  which  appears  simplest  and  least  likely  to  en¬ 
counter  any  obstacles  from  legal  complications,  namely,  the  sewer 
through  Main  Street,  with  the  houses  on  each  side  draining  directly 
into  it. 

It  has  been  suggested  to  me  that  the  dwellings  on  the  east  side 
of  Main  Street  might  continue  to  drain  into  the  Lake,  as  at  present. 
Leaving  them  out  of  consideration,  the  third  plan  above  mentioned, 
as  shown  by  broken  lines  on  the  map,  will  be  much  the  cheapest  for 
this  district. 

This  location  maybe  considered  subject  to  change,  if  more  exact 
detailed  estimates,  based  on  surveys  and  a  canvass  of  the  wishes  of 
the  property  owners  as  to  right  of  way  through  their  land  for  a  public 
sewer,  should  show  another  plan  to  be  less  expensive. 

I  do  not  think  it  would  be  proper  to  discharge  any  sewage  into 
the  Lake  along  the  village  front,  between  Mile  Point  Creek  and  Marsh 
Creek. 

The  sewage  discharged  from  the  southern  district,  at  Mile  Point 
Creek,  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  enter  the  Lake  in  its  crude  state. 
Its  volume  will  never  be  very  great,  to  be  sure,  but  there  is  a  slight 
current  northward,  which  might  lodge  offensive  matter  along  the 
shore.  A  favorable  site  for  disposing  of  it  by  sub-surface  irrigation 
is  found  in  Mile  Point  Gully,  between  Main  Street  and  the  S.  G.  &  C. 
Railroad. 

This  method  of  sewage  disposal  has  been  successfully  used  for 
some  years  in  this  country.  The  sewage  is  collected  in  tight  tanks,  in 
which  the  coarser  matters  settle,  and  the  liquids  are  flushed  out  peri¬ 
odically  into  tile  drains  laid  about  ten  inches  below  the  surface 

•  '  •  -  -  — :  f  •  ' 

of  the  ground.  These  drains  are  laid  with  open  joints,  and  on  very 
slight  grades.  It  is  found  that  when  the  soil  under  them  is  thoroughly 
underdrained  by  other  tile  drains,  emptying  into  a  natural  water¬ 
course,  and  the  flushing  is  performed  at  regular  intervals,  the  soil 
takes  up  all  the  impurities,  grass  grows  luxuriantly  over  the  irrigated 
area,  and  the  effluent  water  from  the  drains  is  pure.  There  is  suffi¬ 
cient  area  of  unoccupied  land  in  the  Mile  Point  Gully  to  dispose  of 
the  sewage  of  a  larger  population  than  is  likely  to  occupy  the  southern 
section  of  the  village,  and  no  nuisance  or  offence  of  any  kind  can 
follow  the  adoption  of  this  system  of  disposal. 

This  system  has  been  successfully  applied  at  Cumberland  Mills, 
in  Maine,  at  Lenox,  in  Massachusetts,  at  Bryn  Mawr,  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  other  places,  by  Mr.  George  E.  Waring  and  other  engineers. 


12 


THE  SEWERAGE  OF  GENEVA,  N.  Y. 


For  disposal  of  the  sewage  from  the  village  north  of  Hamilton 
Street,  some  other  method  must  be  adopted.  It  does  not  appear  to 
me  to  be  necessary  to  take  any  measures  for  purifying  this  sewage. 

I  do  not  see  that  any  harm  can  be  done  by  discharging  it  into  the 
Lake  east  of  the  canal  basins,  about  the  mouth  of  Marsh  Creek. 

Its  volume  will  not  be  so  great  as  to  cause  a  nuisance  along  the 
Seneca  River.  Being  discharged  fresh  into  the  Lake  it  will  probably 
be  consumed  by  fishes  before  the  water  it  has  entered  will  have  reached 
the  river.  If,  at  some  future  time,  it  should  prove  to  be  a  nuisance, 
the  outlet  sewer  could  be  continued  eastwardly  to  some  land  suitable 
for  the  purpose,  and  the  sewage  pumped  up  on  the  land  and  disposed 
of  by  irrigation.  It  is  very  probable  that  the  day  is  far  distant  when 
this  treatment  of  the  sewage  will  be  required. 

There  is  a  small  section  east  of  Exchange  Street,  from  the  N.  Y. 
C.  R.R.  to  North  Street,  which  lies  so  low  in  the  swamp  bordering 
Marsh  Creek  that  it  cannot  be  sewered  without  either  raising  the 
grades  of  the  streets  several  feet  or  pumping  up  the  sewage. 

It  would  probably  be  easiest  to  raise  the  streets,  and  bring 
the  houses  and  cellars  out  of  the  swamp  land. 

The  map  submitted  herewith  is  prepared  from  the  village  map, 
and  elevations  of  the  ground  taken  by  Mr.  G.  Root,  C.  E.,  and  shows 
the  elevations  of  the  street  surface,  and  of  the  inside  bottom  of  the 
sewers  proposed,  and  the  gradients  and  sizes  of  all  sewers  projected. 

The  sewers  are  proportioned  to  convey,  when  running  half  full, 
the  house  sewage  at  the  hour  of  greatest  discharge.  The  smallest 
sewer  used  is  a  6-inch  pipe,  that  being  the  least  size  which  experience 
shows  to  be  safe  to  insure  against  stoppage  by  the  matters  which 
will  get  into  a  sewer  in  spite  of  regulations  and  precautions.  The 
size  is  increased  at  the  point  where  a  6-inch  pipe  is  not  capable  of 
conveying,  when  half  full,  an  amount  of  sewage  equal  to  an  hourly  flow 
of  150  gallons  for  each  100  feet  of  street  sewered,  and  this  ratio  is 
made  the  basis  of  all  calculations  for  the  sizes  of  the  sewers,  up  to 
the  20-inch  outlet  sewer  along  Lake  Street. 

For  all  sizes  of  sewers,  up  to  20  inches  diameter,  the  best  quality 
of  vitrified  earthenware  pipe  should  be  used,  laid  true  to  line  and 
grade,  with  the  joints  made  perfectly  water-tight  with  the  best  Portland 
cement.  Hub  and  spigot  pipe  should  be  used  up  to  10  inches  diame¬ 
ter,  and  straight  pipe,  with  collars,  for  diameters  greater  than  10  inches. 

Branch  pipe  for  house  connections  should  be  put  in  at  the  time 
of  laying,  so  that  the  main  pipe  may  never  be  disturbed  again. 

Manholes  should  be  put  in  about  1,000  feet  apart  on  straight 
lines  and  at  all  junctions  of  branch  sewers,  and  smaller  openings 


THE  SEWERAGE  OF  GENEVA,  N.  Y. 


13 


extending  to  the  surface  of  the  street,  about  300  feet  apart.  House 
connections  should  be  of  4-inch  pipe  extending  from  the  sewer 
to  the  top  of  the  soil-pipe  at  the  roof  of  the  house  without  a  break  or 
trap,  to  insure  ventilation  and  circulation  of  air.  At  every  dead  end 
of  a  sewer  there  should  be  means  of  flushing  provided.  The  best 
effect,  with  the  least  expenditure  of  water,  is  obtained  by  an  automatic 
siphon  flush-tank,  filled  gradually  from  the  water  mains  and  empty¬ 
ing  itself  suddenly  into  the  sewer. 

The  use  of  the  automatic  flushing  tank,  in  this  connection,  involves 
the  probable  payment  of  a  tax  of  nine  cents  per  foot  of  sewer  affected 
thereby,  as  compensation  for  a  patent  claimed  for  the  combination. 
Other  arrangements  for  flushing  are  practicable,  but  they  involve 
more  labor  and  dependence  upon  the  fidelity  of  laborers  employed  by 
the  corporation.  Which  method  involves  the  least  risk  and  actual 
annual  expense,  is  a  question  which  can  only  be  decided  after  careful 
investigation  in  each  case,  the  difference  of  cost  either  way  being  slight, 
and  the  security  of  flushing  regularly,  more  assured  by  the  automatic 
tanks.  I  have  made  the  estimates  on  the  assumption  that  they  will  be 
used. 

Good  materials  and  workmanship  are  essential,  and  these  can 
only  be  obtained  by  thorough  inspection  of  the  work  by  competent 
men  during  its  construction. 

Taken  in  detail,  the  plan  provides  that  the  sewage  from  Main 
and  Pulteney  Streets,  south  of  Hamilton  Street,  shall  be  carried  to 
the  valley  on  Jay  Street,  and  thence  along  the  line  of  the  brook 
to  Mile  Point  Gully  where  it  will  be  received  in  a  tank  and  periodi¬ 
cally  flushed  into  sub-surface  drains  on  ground  prepared  for  the  pur¬ 
pose,  either  north  or  south  of  the  brook. 

The  sewage  from  the  region  west  of  the  hill  between  Main  and 
Pulteney  Streets,  from  Hamilton  to  High  Street,  will  be  concentrated 
at  the  intersection  of  Pulteney  and  William  Streets,  and  conveyed  in 
a  16-inch  pipe  through  William  Street  to  Main. 

The  cutting  at  the  deepest  point  on  William  Street  will  be  24  feet. 
This  is  the  only  deep  cut  in  this  district.  The  rest  of  the  sewers  fol¬ 
low  the  surface  grades  very  closely,  and  are  generally  nine  feet 
below  the  street  grade. 

It  would  be  practicable  to  avoid  the  deep  cut  in  William  Street  by 
carrying  the  sewer  along  the  line  of  the  brook  through  private  prop¬ 
erty  in  the  middle  of  the  block.  The  drains  from  quite  a  number  of 
houses  are  now  led  into  the  brick  sewer  recently  built  along  the  line, 
and  all  the  sewage  of  the  district  might  be  carried  in  it. 

As  I  have  before  stated,  there  are  serious  objections  to  this 
method  of  converting  a  natural  water-course  into  a  sewer.  Besides 


14 


THE  SEWERAGE  OF  GENEVA,  N.  Y. 


the  difficulty  of  making  the  channel  porous  to  receive  drainage 
and  at  the  same  time  tight  to  prevent  pollution  of  the  soil  by  the 
sewage,  the  fact  must  be  taken  into  consideration  that  the  only 
access  to  the  sewer  will  be  over  private  property,  and  that  the  town 
cannot  compel  a  property  owner  to  connect  with  the  sewer  if  the  only 
way  he  can  make  such  connection  is  by  crossing  another  person’s  land. 

If  after  due  consideration  of  the  sanitary  and  legal  objections  to 
such  a  course,  you  should  decide  that  the  pecuniary  advantages  over¬ 
weighed  them,  the  sewage  might  be  conveyed  in  the  brook  Culvert 
from  the  corner  of  William  and  Pulteney  Streets  to  Exchange  Street, 
where  it  would  turn  into  the  main  sewer  shown  on  the  plan. 

When  the  flow  of  water  in  the  brook  was  too  great  for  the  main 
sewer  to  carry  it,  the  surplus  would  flow  into  the  Lake  by  an  over¬ 
flow  to  be  provided  at  Exchange  Street.  By  using  the  present  brook 
sewer  in  this  way,  the  size  of  the  sewers  on  William  and  Main  Streets 
for  1,300  feet  could  be  reduced  from  fifteen  inches  to  six  inches,  and 
the  cutting  at  the  summit  on  William  Street  would  be  nine  feet  in¬ 
stead  of  twenty-four  feet.  The  saving  of  cost  would  be  about  $1,000. 

Resuming  the  description  of  the  scheme  shown  on  the  plan,  the 
sewer  will  pass  through  Main  Street  to  Castle  Street,  receiving  other 
sewers  on  its  way,  and  pass  down  Castle  Street  to  Exchange  Street. 

At  Genesee  Street  it  will  be  joined  by  the  sewer  draining  the 
upper  part  of  Castle  Street,  beyond  Pulteney  Street.  This  sewer 
it  is  proposed  to  bring  across  the  block  on  the  line  of  the  Castle 
Creek  for  about  1,000  feet,  as  before  mentioned.  To  bring  it  down 
Castle  Street  from  Pulteney  to  Main  would  require  a  cutting  of  over 
30  feet  in  depth. 

The  district  north  of  Lewis  Street  and  west  of  Genesee  Street 
will  be  drained  down  Lewis  Street  to  Exchange  Street,  where  it  will 
meet  the  sewer  of  the  district  between  Main  and  Genesee  Streets. 

All  the  sewers  meet  on  Exchange  Street  at  Lake  Street,  and  are 
carried  by  a  20-inch  pipe  sewer  down  Lake  Street  (passing  under  the 
Seneca  and  Cayuga  Canal  by  a  siphon  of  cast-iron  pipe),  and  dis¬ 
charge  into  the  Lake  at  Marsh  Creek,  unless  it  should  be  desired  to 
go  further  from  the  village,  as  previously  stated,  for  disposal  of  the 
sewage  by  pumping  it  on  to  land  for  irrigation. 

From  the  annexed  schedule*  of  sizes  of  sewers  it  will  be  seen 
that  there  are  76,040  feet,  or  14.4  miles  of  sewers  provided  for. 

I  have  divided  these  into  ten  districts,  according  to  what  seems 
the  most  probable  division  of  the  order  of  the  construction  of  the 
sewers. 


*  Not  printed. 


THE  SEWERAGE  OF  GENEVA,  N.  Y. 


15 


The  first  district  includes  the  main  business  part  of  the  village 
from  Main  Street  to  the  Lake,  between  Hamilton  and  Lewis  Streets. 
The  sewerage  will  cost  approximately  $19,397  for  13,480  feet  of 
sewers.  This  is  the  most  costly  district  in  proportion  to  the  length 
of  the  sewers,  owing  to  its  containing  the  main  outfall  sewer. 

The  second  district  lies  between  ,Main  and  Pulteney  Streets, 
from  Hamilton  to  Lewis  Street.  The  sewage  will  be  concentrated  at 
the  corner  of  Pulteney  and  William  Streets,  and  carried  down  William 
to  Main  Street.  The  cost  is  approximately  $16,337  for  13,570  feet 
of  sewers. 

The  third  district  lies  on  the  ridge  and  drains  toward  the  south. 
The  sewage  will  be  disposed  of  by  sub-surface  irrigation  in  Mile 
Point  Gully.  The  cost  is  approximately  $16,895  for  10,090  feet  of 
sewers,  including  the  disposal  works  at  Mile  Point.  The  cost  of  this 
district  can  be  reduced  to  $8,760  by  omitting  the  Main  Street  sewer, 
as  suggested  in  a  previous  part  of  this  report. 

The  sewerage  for  these  three  districts  will  therefore  cost  approxi¬ 
mately  $52,629  for  37,140  feet  of  sewers. 

The  seven  other  districts  will  require  38,900  feet  of  sewers,  esti¬ 
mated  to  cost  $44,263,  making  the  aggregate  cost  of  sewering  the 
village  completely,  $96,892  for  76,040  feet  of  sewers. 

This  amount  will  not,  of  course,  require  to  be  expended  all  at 
once.  The  first  three  districts  need  sewering  more  than  the  others. 
In  constructing  the  sewers  for  them,  the  proportional  cost  will  be 
greater  than  for  the  sewers  further  from  the  outfall,  and  the  whole 
burden  of  the  expense  ought  not  to  fall  on  the  property  which  will 
be  directly  benefited. 

For  instance,  the  sewers  of  the  first  district  have  to  be  made 
large  enough  to  carry  the  sewage  from  seven  out  of  the  remaining 
nine  districts,  and  nearly  half  of  these  sewers  are  larger  than  would 
be  necessary  to  carry  only  the  sewage  from  the  district  itself.  The 
cost  is  estimated  at  $19,397,  whereas  if  the  capacity  were  confined  to 
the  one  district  it  would  be  $15,940. 

It  would  be  only  equitable,  therefore,  for  the  expense  to  be 
divided  into  two  parts,  one  part,  representing  the  cost  of  the  smallest 
sewer,  to  be  assessed  on  the  frontage  along  which  sewers  are  laid, 
and  the  other  to  be  assessed  on  all  property  in  the  districts  which  the 
main  sewers  will  eventually  drain. 

If  the  work  is  undertaken  at  all,  the  first  three  districts  ought 
to  be  sewered  altogether,  both  for  sanitary  and  economical  reasons. 

If  the  work  is  to  be  done,  it  should  be  executed  under  the  super¬ 
vision  of  an  engineer  who  has  had  experience  in  building  such  work 


[6 


THE  SEWERAGE  OF  GENEVA,  N.  Y. 


and  in  dealing  with  contractors.  No  guarantee  in  a  contract  can 
supersede  the  necessity  for  thorough  intelligent  oversight  and  inspec¬ 
tion  during  the  progress  of  construction. 

The  prices  assumed  in  the  estimates  are  liberal,  and  are  believed 
to  be  ample  to  cover  all  expenses  of  surveys,  plans,  engineering,  in¬ 
spection  and  contingencies. 


Respectfully  submitted, 


63  Bleecker  Street, 

New  York  City,  December,  1883. 


J.  J.  R.  CROES, 


Civil  Engineer. 


K 


APPROXIMATE  ESTIMATE  OF  COST  OF  SEWERS. 


District.  Length  of  Sewers.  Cost. 

1  . 13,480  feet.  $19,397 

2  . i3,57o  “  16,337 

3  . 10,090  “  16,895 

4  .  6,750  “  8,168 

5  .  5,39°  “  6,039 

6  .  3,97°  “  4,48o 

7  .  2,900  “  3,228 

8  .  4,3°°  “  4,728 

9  .  8,440  “  9,346 

10  .  7T5°  “  8,274 

Total . 76,040  feet.  $96,892 


I 


